Secret Service Arrest Man in Connecticut for Threatening the President

30 Aug 2014

Police tracked down a man reported as a potential threat to President Barack Obama on Friday, delivering him into Secret Service custody shortly afterwards.

Early on Friday, police in Westchester County, New York were alerted to an individual who was under suspicion of being a danger to the president and was driving a car with Connecticut plates.

Westchester police put put bulletins to the rest of the state as well as Connecticut and other surrounding states alerting authorities to be on the look out for the man.

Bulletins described the vehicle as a 2014 blue Volkswagen Jetta.

As police searched for the vehicle, the Secret Service released a statement to the press: “Information has been received by law enforcement regarding a potentially suspicious person and vehicle. We are working with our local law enforcement partners to determine the validity of the information provided.”

Hamden Police Lt. Kevin Samperi reported that the man and his car were located in Hamden. The Secret Service immediately took the suspect into custody.

Not long afterward, the Secret Service reported that “there have been no arrests or charges brought in this case at this point.”

Obama was scheduled to be in the region on Friday to attend fundraising events in Sound Shore and Purchase, putting police on high alert. After those engagements, he landed at Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island for more fundraisers.

Former FBI Special Agent Michael Clark told the NBC affiliate in West Hartford, Connecticut that the Secret Service obviously felt that the man was an imminent threat because they contacted local police for help, instead of handling the situation on their own.